Halite
Species
Common · NaCl
Sodium chloride deposited by evaporation of enclosed seas and saline lakes. Forms thick underground beds kilometres deep in some basins. Flows plastically under pressure, creating salt domes that trap petroleum deposits.
Identity
- Formula
- NaCl
- Chemical class
- Halide
- Also known as
- Rock salt, Common salt, Table salt
- Used in alchemy
- Enchanted Salt Pinch
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Cubic
- Habits
- Cubic, Massive, Granular
- Fracture
- Conchoidal
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Density
- 2.17 g/cm³
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Colors
- colorless, white, pink, red, yellow, blue, gray
- Streak
- white
- Transparency
- Transparent, Translucent
Geology
- Origins
- Sedimentary
- Host rocks
- Salt beds
- Associated minerals
- Gypsum, Anhydrite, Sylvite, polyhalite, Carnallite, Dolomite
- Found in
- Rock salt, Evaporite deposit
- Geography
- worldwide
Classification
- Rarity
- Common
- Gem quality
- No
Sources
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- Halite. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Halite. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- Salt dome. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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